You have a dream
and I'm a great believer if you don't have dreams
then dreams don't come true
Here we are
Utopia has happened
The opportunity came along
so you either grasp it with both hands and go with it or
you say let's wait to next year
Whereas St Cadoc's, we want to do this
and we just have to deal with what's been put in front of us
My name's Mark Thompson
I was the chairman at St Cadoc's Youth Club for 15 years
Today's a wonderful opportunity
First team, first game
The first ever fielded senior team at St Cadoc's Youth Club
I'm Brendan, I'm the jannie at St Cadoc's
It was a school team
Developed in a brand new primary school in 1978
by the then jannie Mr David Jones
Mr Jones led the football team for decades
Primary sevens, went down to primary threes
I got involved with the club about 15 years ago
when my son Stephen at that time was in primary three
I quickly saw the potential that the club had
and I started then to take it beyond the boundaries of the school
and opened it up to all kids
Grew from strength to strength
we developed our first eleven-a-side team
We've got players in the match day squad today
who have played for St Cadoc's
who have left St Cadoc's
We didn't have an adult team for them actually to play in
so this is a fantastic opportunity
to keep some of the talent we already have within the club
Myself and Brendan Boyle
had a conversation about five or six years ago
and this was a kinda... this was the dream, this was utopia
Our original plan this year
was that we were going to field an amateur team
and apply to get intae one of the amateur leagues
So when we learned that access to this league
was subject to an application form
we thought who doesn't love a goal?
Who doesn't love excitement?
Who doesn't love and benefit from the quest for success?
West of Scotland League and The Lowland League
that was overseeing the applicants and things
gave us some pretty testing demanding questions
Not least
You've never fielded an adults team guys
how you gonna do it?
The club has ambitions it's been very ambitious since the start
but I would be lying if I sat here and said
that I thought one day St Cadoc's would be part of a professional setup
within the Scottish Football Association
There's pride for me but it's also pride for the club
Once the referee blows that whistle
then I'll believe we're here
Mark text me to say put on the TV one night
Saw St Cadoc's in the West of Scotland League
and started crying
And of course that's emotional
That's a wonderful thing to be part of
I think it's an emotional moment for anybody involved with St Cadoc's
but unfortunately there's only a few of us here today
So I think it'll be a bigger emotional moment
once we get the crowds back in
and get the St Cadoc's family here with us
It means everything
It's something I've put 15 years of my life into
Something I feel passionate about
The pandemic brings many difficulties
and we believe it's an opportunity to show the resilience of the club
and part of the resilience that we hope
we engender within everybody connected to the club
That despite these grave difficulties
that we can still have time for a wee bit fun
We're now part of the Scottish football pyramid
why don't we go and try and scale it